Report

On the 4^th of 4 home games in a row, the Stan finally got a win & it was both well deserved & comfortable. It was the 1^st time the 2 teams had met although Ossett Albion, who merged with Ossett Town to form Ossett United, hosted & beat the Stan in the FA Vase in the 1981-82 season.  There were 6 changes from the team that lost to Garforth Town on Wednesday with Brass, Grove, Spence, Shepherd, Burn & Slaughter replacing De Jesus, Hornsby, Ellison, Turnbull, Richardson & Walker. Daniel Groves & Robbie Spence made their Stan debuts after both signed on loan from Hebburn Town for the rest of the season.

Heaton Stannington started positively & in the 2^nd minute a free kick into the Ossett box was eventually cleared. 4 minutes later & the visitors also sent a ball from a free kick into their opponents’ box, but it was headed clear by Spence for a corner from which Capewell cleared the ball on the goal line. Soon after the ball was sent across the front of the Stan goal, but it was missed by everyone. Both teams were trying to attack but apart from Brass catching the ball from a free kick, nothing much happened until Lamb shot high & wide in 14 minutes. The Ossett keeper then blocked a Lamb shot for a corner when it looked like Konner would score. There was now a period of Stan pressure & in 17 minutes Thompson, who was blocked, passed to Lamb in the 6-yard box & he was also unable to shoot so passed to Spence whose blasted effort was deflected for a corner. Lamb was blocked another twice as the Stan pressure continued & it paid off in the 21^st minute when the Stan went 1-0 up. A great ball by Lamb to Stephenson advancing into the box saw his shot deflected just wide of the post when it looked like it was going into the net. The resulting corner saw a scrum of players in the 6-yard box challenging to get control of the ball & it was Capewell who forced it just over the line with the linesman in a good position to confirm the goal. Ossett hadn’t given up & forced 3 corners in a row with the 3^rd being headed wide at the back post. After a quieter period, a cross to Lamb in 35 minutes from Thompson saw him run in on goal but he tapped it too far as he ran & the keeper got out to it before he could shoot. After both teams had attacked again, Slaughter sent a high ball into the Ossett box, but the keeper headed it clear before Stephenson could get to it. In 41 minutes, Stephenson shot wide through a crowd of players. Thompson then broke free & was pulled down just outside the box but nothing was given. The Stan were able to go into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead as in 44 minutes, from a corner, Spence headed into the Ossett net to score on his debut. In the 46^th minute, an Ossett player broke into the Stan box but Brass got down to save his effort.

From the restart, Thompson ran towards the visitor’s goal & his close-range shot was blocked by the keeper. The Stan had 2 more attacks before a quieter few minutes. In 53 minutes, Ossett had a ball from a corner cleared twice followed by Lamb counter attacking during which he was brought down but nothing was given. The Stan then counter attacked again through Thompson, but he was intercepted in the box. In 56 minutes, a long-range ball from Ossett went just wide & 3 minutes later their keeper had to get out to clear a Stan ball. He then got out again to the ball before Lamb did. There was a quieter period until Thompson ran into the box in 67 minutes, but his final ball was blocked. He then did the same again but forced a corner. The corner ball was blocked as it entered the box, but it was sent back in by Stephenson & headed into the net by Thompson in 69 minutes. In 73 minutes, an Ossett free kick went straight to Brass. Burn then chipped the visiting keeper but his effort went just wide. The Stan were getting more of the ball but the next attack wasn’t until 81 minutes when the Stan had 2 efforts cleared. In 86 minutes, Richardson headed wide & 3 minutes later a Stephenson free kick went just over the bar from a tight angle. Stephenson then sliced another shot wide. Into added time, the Ossett keeper mad a great save to stop another Stephenson effort & he also blocked the rebound effort. After Lamb was brought down, the ball from the Stephenson free kick was headed clear followed by Anderson slicing a shot, The Stan pressure continued with a Capewell header being blocked but the match finished 3-0 for the Stan.

A great all-round performance from the Stan, orchestrated by a great selection by manager Dean Nicholson, saw them achieve a 3-0 win & move up the table to 14th. On Tuesday night its Northumberland Senior Cup action when the Stan travel up the coast to play Blyth Town in the quarter finals.

Kevin Mochrie

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